A member of Phorm's board also works as a taxpayer-funded broker at the heart of UK internet policy, in the very department tasked this week with responding to European Commission demands to tighten privacy laws.
Kip Meek defended his dual role today, insisting his job for the Digital Britain review was completely separate to …

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Oh Really?

"I can say with absolute certainty there has been no discussion about Phorm between Kip and anyone here in the department,"

Now that is nothing short of a barefaced lie. Can this spokesperson really expect us to believe that it's never come up even as part of a watercooler chat? Absolute certainty my arse. Just because it hasn't come up in the minutes of any formal meetings it doesn't mean it's never been discussed. And if it's been discuseed then can they really say with any certainty that it hasn't informed any decisions? Well I'm sure they will *say* they are "absolutely certain" that it hasn't, but I don't suppose anybody will believe them.

And I'm sure that the EC will be very interested in this possible conflict of interests.

Hush, can you hear them adding a couple of zeroes to the fine?

This government is so bent it makes Thatcher's crowd look like a convent.

BERR

f*cking disgusting..

jobs for the boys like everything else involved with this bl**dy Govt, the EU gravy train, and BT. Oh sorry not just jobs for the boys, that silly horse-faced tart Patricia Hewitt got a 50K non-executive directorship at BT for givingt hem the contract for the NHS spine (that doesn't work - just like her)

Conflict Of Interest

"A member of Phorm's board also works as a taxpayer-funded broker at the heart of UK internet policy, in the very department tasked this week with responding to European Commission demands to tighten privacy laws."

He has options/shares in Phorm and therefore has a vested interest to see its business model work - one area in which he is able by working on the Internet policy. This is a clear conflict of interest as he could propose a wider adoption of Phorm to cover the very legislation he is proposing.

Hearings, Hearings

How about US Senate style public hearings before people get such appointments? Scrutiny should be proactive - and retrospective reassurances are no substitute. No conflict of interest my arse. Can we FOI his emails, meeting minutes, etc. etc. etc.?

Oh, and What The Fuck!?! - again (in hindsight it didn't quite do it for me the 1st time)

Eve's Apple .... Adam's Cherry. Always a Prime Profitable Target

"In October Hendon wrote to BT: "You may know there is a bit of a battle going on about our unwillingness to release, under the Freedom of Information Act, correspondence between the European Commission and the government and I am instructed I cannot give you a copy of our response either."" ....... Hmmm, two publicly elected bodies acting like they have secrets which no one should know, and probably for individual greater advantage rather than the Public Good. It certainly sounds/appears right dodgy and is bound to be abused, such is the pernicious nature of man hiding/skulking in the dark.

Surely everyone knows that once you log onto the Internet there is nowhere to run to hide secrets and all actions are automatically logged. Full stop. And therefore all of your secret desires and/or extra curricular interests are known and you can be targetted and tempted to satisfy them and yourself whilst at the same time generating income for those ISP who would Server your Needs with their Feeds/Models/Intelligently Designed Businesses catering to Latent Tendencies.

What...

Guess this explains

BT's fairly gentle treatment by Ofcom. The government WANTS us to have Phorm. Presumably that's because Phorm will faciliate Jacqui's email inspection. Come on, let's hear it from the 'if you've nothing to hide' brigade!

Is anyone surprised anymore?

Seriously, this is nothing new. UK.gov is corrupt through and through, it should come as no surprise that the government did nothing about the BT/Phorm trials precisely because BT/Phorm and the government are often the same person, and if they aren't the same person they worked together and are best buddies.

EU should NOT fine UK.gov, since we have to pick up the fine. Rather, they should impose sanctions restricting trade and demand that the UK implement more anti corruption laws to prevent situations like this in addition to the increasing privacy requirements.

Oh dear.

@dudeskinn

"I might be crazy here but aren't the government supposed to be protecting us from systems like Phorm. You know, the people they represent."

Don't be silly - represent us? LOL - a politician will only do something that LOOKS like that if it also includes lining his own greasy pockets. It's a pity that geneticists can't discover a gene for "politicianness" - we could then drown the greedy, lying bastards as soon as they're born....

Paris, because there's no chance she'd have such a gene - now when the hell are the Reg going to include that V for Vendetta icon?

Do BERR KNOW who talks to who, though?

"I can say with absolute certainty there has been no discussion about Phorm between Kip and anyone here in the department," a spokeswoman said.

It's great to see that level of confidence about who did what at BERR. Because whenever BERR are asked about details of meetings and contacts with Phorm, via FOI requests, they say they can't find out, or that no minutes were taken. Yet they absolutely KNOW that Meek hasn't talked to anyone at BERR about Phorm? Pull the other one. That's the answer that they NEED to give, but there's no reason to believe it's actually true.

the "if you've nothing to hide" brigade

They hopefully don't exist any more. You no longer have to be old enough to remember Blair Peach, or even JCdM, just Ian Tomlinson, and the 114 arrested in Notts for conspiracy to have untrendy haircuts or whatever they were nicked for. Not to mention the 12 "terrorists" arrested in the north west not long ago who will likely be freed without charge in due course. Shame none of the City banksters were ever arrested for conspiracy to award themselves infeasibly large bonuses, the US seem to be ahead of us on that one, but at least the banksters have done more to Stop The City than the anarchists ever did :)

Re BERR

The BERR is rotten. They are allowing products into the UK market that do not conform to Electromagnetic Compatibility regulation and law effectively because it would "constitute a barrier to trade" to legislate against them because it's their old pal Bastard Telecom who are making the cash on the deal.

I suppose a relaxation of safety requirements will be next if big business can make a pile out of it.

Bent as a nine bob note

The insidious connections between Phorm and the political power brokers justs keeps getting worse. They are creating a police state for their own financial gain and in the process mercilessly exploiting us all.

Phorm already has a once high up ex-MP as director (who also has political friends). This latest news shows just how badly Phorm wants to work with politicians for its own gain. Which means what does the politicians get in return. Its no wonder then that the government doesn't want to stop Phorm.

The depth of corruption of this government is getting beyond shocking. Their plans to build a police state cannot be allowed. Its actually getting frighting just how badly they aim to destroy old UK values for their own financial gain. The UK isn't suppose to be a police state with such continuous, deep and widespread monitoring of everyone, yet we are leading the world in building a 21st century police state.

Everyone (not just technical people on TheReg etc..) needs to be woken up to the growing danger of this system, let alone how bad that danger is so closely tied in with what politicians want. Everything we say online can be profiled, (includes everything political we find of interest to read). Thats enough to profile what political interests and views everyone has. The central reason why centuries ago votes were made in secret, was to prevent the ones in power, from seeking to influence the voters. Yet the relentless power seekers are forever seeking to game the system to gain ever more information on peoples opinions.

All politicians are relentless power seekers regardless of party. That is why they go into politics as they ultimately want to be in power over others. The Internet gives a huge amount of power to monitor people's lives and the relentless power seekers cannot resist mercilessly exploiting it for their own gain. This has gone too far already. Everyone needs to be told about this growing danger. Not just technical people here, everyone in the country needs to see what Phorm means. The only way to make changes is for enough people to stand together. If millions of people stand together on this one point, then the government has to give in and back down. Otherwise this abuse of power is going to get ever worse.

(If you still can't see there is any problem or danger, then read this, and the comments that follow it)... http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=989785&cid=25306989

We need to stop discussing what needs to be done and simply march in force on Parliament. (Pick a Saturday and organize a month in advance, tell everyone, so many can turn up).

I've had enough of this corruption. The relentless NuLabour power seekers and their morally corrupt rich friends in business have gone far enough. They need to be reined in. The news about Phorm keeps getting ever more shocking. This has gone far enough. Phorm and NuLabour's plans need to be stopped.

Come on EU !

Poor reporting?

"Kip Meek defended his dual role today, insisting his job for the Digital Britain review was completely separate to any dispute between the UK government and Brussels."

when in fact what it should say is:

"Kip Meek defended his dual role today, insisting his job for the Digital Britain review was completely separate to any dispute between Phorm (and their bitch the UK government) and everyone else."

If this isn't a bloody crystal clear example of conflict of interest I really don't know what is. I can't quite decide if BERR is just completely incompetent, lacking in common sense, or more corrupt than Caligula's court. I thought Mandy was supposed to be pretty bright, in which case it isn't ignorance, it's deliberate.

It's stuff like this that really makes the EU look appealing, but then again aren't most politicians the same... :(

A few thoughts...

10/10 for featuring Sir Humphrey although I think even he would have been shocked at how blatant they have been. Politicians and Cronies, Trough, Nose, In - rearrange into a well know phrase.

Pat Hewitt - as you may all recall - was one the leading lights between that remarkable piece of pseudo legislation IR35. The other being "Red" Dawn. So its clearly "Politics of Envy" for most and "Politics of Trough" for cronies.

Scumbags

So, one bunch of scumbags is hiring anotherr scumbag. Given that this load of Nu Labur bastards would not know the truth even if it were to be anally inserted, is anyione surprised? Never thought that I would support any of those European tossers. Lets see if thety can get this right. Oh dear, there they are, a squadron of pin pigs in perfect formation--------- Gary

Disgusting

Coming from a government that has made licking business arse the top of it's priority list, the cosy little relationships mentioned are hardly surprising. You would think 'very clever' people were in really short supply, since the uk.gov only seems to have had a pool of a dozen or so to hand round between various regulatory, private sector and advisory jobs. That labour think this is easily defensible speaks volumes about how corrupt, arrogant and contemptuous the party of Keir Hardie has become since being hijacked by the olive oil drizzling brigade.

May I be the first (Oh I wish) to give the finger to our new olive oil drizzling corporate overlords.

Fine...

It's not a conflict of interest, it's a conflict of influence.

Don't for one second tell me that being on the official contact list within a department or elsewhere in the corridors of power doesn't get you something. Wouldn't this be why one T. Blair Esquire gets such a hefty retainer from Merrill Lynch?

From the same school of logic that brought you "it's perfectly within the rules". Yes it is - but the rules are wrong, as well as the behaviour.

Meek the Greek?

Sure!

Duh...we beiieve you! I believe that the government wouldn't be interested in the greatest threat to interent liberties and greatest opportunity to get a back door connection for their communication database, just slapped on a plate ready for the taking!

The government is all! The government cares! Comrade Priminister Brown is our father! He shares his love and care for all his slav....comrades!